©Cornelia Parker via BBC News
Vocabulary
- steamroller /STEEM-roh-ler/
- filament /FIL-uh-muhnt/
- ensnare /en-SNAIR/
- perpetual /per-PECH-oo-uhl/
- evoke /ih-VOHK/
[noun] – a vehicle that moves forward on a large, heavy wheel in order to make a road surface flat
The gravel roadbed was flattened by a steamroller before concrete was placed.
[noun] – a thin thread or fiber of natural or artificial material
Toothbrushes need to be replaced when the filaments start to wear out.
[verb] – to catch or get control of something or someone
The audience was ensnared by the exhibit’s natural beauty.
[adjective] – continuing forever in the same way
Self-improvement is a perpetual process.
[verb] – to make someone remember something or feel an emotion
Music often evokes different emotions.
Article reading:
Thirty Pieces of Silver
©Cornelia Parker via BBC News
This piece was made in her early 30s by rolling over more than 1,000 pieces of silver and silver-plated silver using a steamroller. Parker then artistically hung the polished rubble into 30 individual pools, or “discs,” from long cables a few inches off the ground. “The title […] alludes to money, to betrayal, to death and resurrection; more simply, it is a literal description of the piece.”
Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View
©Cornelia Parker via BBC News
The installation suspends the broken contents of a garden shed that Parker had exploded in a field in 1991 using indistinct filaments. The twisted pieces of bikes, garden tools, painted pots, and toys are brilliantly illuminated by a blaring lightbulb placed in the middle of the installation. Viewers are unexpectedly ensnared in the energy of the continuously suspended explosion.
Perpetual Canon
©Cornelia Parker via BBC News
Parker expanded “Thirty Pieces of Silver” with “Perpetual Canon” by destroying 60 brass-band instruments. “The idea of a Perpetual Canon [is] that [it] just keeps going on forever. It’s like these wind instruments have inhaled and never exhaled. Like they’ve just taken a breath and are in an arrested space.”
Parker’s ongoing new piece is entitled “Island” (2022). It has a literary punch, evoking concerns about cultural isolation and themes of climate change in the abandoned greenhouse and its white-washed windows. Use the breathing light however you see fit.
Discussion Questions
- Painting is a common way that we think of art. What additional items would you classify as “art”?
- Can you appreciate art without liking it? Do you have any instances in mind?
- Which among the three artworks would you like to see in person and why?
- Does art always have to be physically beautiful?
- What are your expectations of Parker’s new piece, “Island”?
Summarization
Describe
- toss
- rubble
- illuminate
- brass
- isolation